The Pimsleur® Method: the easiest, fastest way to learn a new language. Completely portable, easily downloadable, and lots of fun. You’ll be speaking and understanding in no time flat! Mandarin Chinese Phase 1, Lessons 1-30 includes 15 hours of spoken language practice and one hour of culture notes in thirty, 30-minute lessons.
In the first 10 lessons, you’ll cover the basics: saying hello, asking for or giving information or preferences, scheduling a meal or a meeting, asking for or giving basic directions, and much more. You’ll be able to handle minimum courtesy requirements, understand much of what you hear, and be understood at a beginning level, but with near-native pronunciation skills.
In the next 10 lessons, you’ll build on what you’ve learned. Expand your menu, increase your scheduling abilities from general to specific, start to deal with currency and exchanging money, refine your conversations and add over a hundred new vocabulary items. You’ll understand more of what you hear, and be able to really participate with speech that is smoother and more confident.
In the final 10 lessons of Phase 1, you’ll be speaking and understanding at an intermediate level. In this phase, more and more directions are given in the target language, which moves your learning to a whole new plane. You can talk about your immediate family, go on a car trip, and ask for and understand directions. Lessons include shopping, visiting friends, going to a restaurant, plans for the evening and traveling with children. You’ll be able to speak comfortably about things that happened in the past and make plans for the future.
One hour of recorded Culture Notes are included at the end of Unit 30. These Notes are designed to provide you with some insight into Chinese culture. A Notes Booklet is also included in PDF format. "